Post navigation

Peace Partners

The Peace Partners Programme grew out of Coventry City Council’s Anti-bullying Strategy which brought together a variety of organisations working together to address ways of providing training to teachers and youth workers on how to address the problem of bullying, while also enabling young people to develop an awareness of themselves as peacemakers.

Charles Harlock of what was then called Coventry University “Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies (CPRS)” produced a Manual in cooperation with Dr. Carol Rank (CPRS) and Balbir Sohal (Coventry Education and Learning Service). The manual included a CD containing PDF and Powerpoint documents dealing with Art & Peace, Assertiveness, Conflict Styles, Dealing with Bullying, Effective Listening, Mediation, Negotiation, Non-violence and Understanding Conflict among other topics.

Carol and Balbir are currently reviewing these materials which will then be published on this website.

The training material provided in the manual can help young people and those who work with them to acquire a range of skills on how to resolve conflict constructively while also gaining a sound theoretical grounding in peace education. The logo of this manual was designed by young people involved with this project and reflects their engagement not only with the project; but with the city’s identity as a ‘city of peace and reconciliation.’ It is that identification that we hope will spread amongst youth in Coventry.

The Peace Partners manual is an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to raise awareness of and provide training in peace-related skills and will help to advance current initiatives related not only to the Anti-bullying strategy but also to countering ‘hate crime’ and promoting community cohesion. I applaud the work of all those who contributed to this manual and hope that it will be adopted and effectively used by teachers and youth workers throughout the city and in the wider region. I also think that this manual can provide a model of the kind of work that can be initiated in other parts of the UK, and even internationally.